Artificial fish lures designed as facsimiles of live bait must be provided with a line tie for securing a fishing line to the lure. In accordance with the prior art, the line tie is typically an eyelet or ring fixedly mounted in the upper or forward section of the lure, depending upon the type of lure and the action expected of the lure while being retrieved in water. The fishing line is secured to the line tie by a simple knot or similar arrangement, sometimes using an intermediate fastening ring between the line and the line tie.
Prior art line ties, while simple and relatively inexpensive, nevertheless must be designed to be firmly attached to molded plastic material from which most modern artificial lures are constructed. Usually, the line tie for the lure is simply embedded in the plastic during molding, although the line tie can be driven, screwed or otherwise firmly anchored in the fish lure material by any suitable arrangement. A disadvantage, however, of typical prior art arrangements is that the line tie element itself is rigidly secured to the lure body and does not contribute to the action of the lure while being retrieved in water. In fact, most prior art line ties virtually inhibit some action of the lure in water since the lure does not have true freedom of movement relative to the line tie. Thus, prior art line ties either permit uncontrolled movement of the lure or inhibit desirable lure action due to their construction and anchoring arrangement on the lure.
It is highly desirable to provide a line tie connection between a fishing line and an artificial lure that is simple to fabricate, does not require a threaded or driven fastener element, permits relative rocking movement of the lure about its longitudinal axis at its point of connection between the lure and the line tie and which otherwise satisfies all expectations of a line tie for an artificial lure.